Nearly Half Of American Women Fear Turning Into 'Bag Ladies'

If one of your biggest fears is that some day you may become a “bag lady,” know that you’re not alone.

In fact, according to a new survey from Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America, almost half of American women fear becoming “bag ladies” some day, despite the fact that 60% said they were the primary breadwinners of their household and 54% described themselves as the household CFO.

Perhaps more surprising is that 27% of women earning more than $200,000 a year shared the bag lady fear, as well.

The study, which included more than 2,200 women from 25-75, found that these fears were high in women from nearly all walks of life, with 56% of single respondents, 54% of divorced women, 47% of widows and 43% of married women sharing it.

Bag lady fears aside, something else somewhat more disturbing that came from the study was the women’s feelings about financial empowerment. According to the study, “forty-two percent [of women] said they believe financially independent women are intimidating to men and often end up alone, while nearly a third (31%) said those women are hard to relate to and often don’t have many friends. This feeling was even higher among single women at 47% and 32%, respectively.”